Essay review

In the trial of Galileo there is a small but significant discrepancy between the text of his condemnation by the Holy Office and the text of his recantation, which has been generally overlooked or ignored. The offence that he was required to recant was more serious than the one of which he had been found guilty. The most plausible explanation seems to be that the two texts were drawn up independently of each other by the Inquisitors and the Pope respectively, and that the latter wished to deal more harshly with Galileo than the former. There is some independent evidence for this supposition.     

Cancer predisposition caused by elevated mitotic recombination in Bloom mice

Bloom syndrome is a disorder associated with genomic instability that causes affected people to be prone to cancer. Bloom cell lines show increased sister chromatid exchange, yet are proficient in the repair of various DNA lesions. The underlying cause of this disease are mutations in a gene encoding a RECQ DNA helicase. Using embryonic stem cell technology, we have generated viable Bloom mice that are prone to a wide variety of cancers. Cell lines from these mice show elevations in the rates of mitotic recombination. We demonstrate that the increased rate of loss of heterozygosity (LOH) resulting from mitotic recombination in vivo constitutes the underlying mechanism causing tumour susceptibility in these mice.     

Pharmacology: uncoupling the agony from ecstasy

The recreational use of amphetamine-type stimulants can produce a marked and sometimes lethal increase in body temperature. Here we show that mice deficient in a mitochondrial protein known as UCP-3 (for 'uncoupling protein-3') have a diminished thermogenic response to the drug MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, nicknamed 'ecstasy') and so are protected against this dangerously toxic effect. Our findings indicate that UCP-3 is important in MDMA-induced hyperthermia and point to a new therapeutic direction for solving an increasing public-health problem.     

DNA reveals high dispersal synchronizing the population dynamics of Canada lynx

Population dynamics of Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) have been of interest to ecologists for nearly sixty years. Two competing hypotheses concerning lynx population dynamics and large-scale spatial synchrony are currently debated. The first suggests that dispersal is substantial among lynx populations, and the second proposes that lynx at the periphery of their range exist in small, isolated patches that maintain cycle synchrony via correlation with extrinsic environmental factors. Resolving the nature of lynx population dynamics and dispersal is important both to ecological theory and to the conservation of threatened lynx populations: the lack of knowledge about connectivity between populations at the southern periphery of the lynx's geographic range delayed their legal listing in the United States. We test these competing hypotheses using microsatellite DNA markers and lynx samples from 17 collection sites in the core and periphery of the lynx's geographic range. Here we show high gene flow despite separation by distances greater than 3,100 km, supporting the dispersal hypothesis. We therefore suggest that management actions in the contiguous United States should focus on maintaining connectivity with the core of the lynx's geographic range.     

部门动态投资系数的求取方法探讨

本文从理论和实践两个方面对动态投入产出法中动态投资的概念、投资系数的求取等进行了研究,提出了部门动态投资系数的求取方法,即一次性投资与多次性投资的综合方法。在此基础上,还给出了投资系数的修正方法,分析了影响投资系数求取的因素。最后,给出了投资系数求取过程中的误差分析方法。